Coal-agitator for mechanical stokers.



R. S. RILEY. 'comh )AGH/non ForwEci-IANICAL sToKERs.

` APPucAloN FILED mm1. 4. me.

Mmm 1066.121916.

mm nu piararnn stirare bannir orrribnm l ROBERT SANFORD RILEY, 0F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SNFORD RILEY STOKER CO. LTD., OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A 'CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

COAL-AGITATOR, FOR `MECHNICAL STOKERS.

Application filed 'March 4, 1916. Serial No. 82,239.

To all whom t may Concern.'

Be it known that I, ROBERT SANFORD RILEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at ldlorcestei', in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful CoallAgitator for Mechanical Stokers, of which the following is a specification. s

This invention relates to a device for agitating coal in a mechanical stoker of that type in which the coal is fed from ay hopper by means of reciprocating 'plungers The principal objects of the invention are to provide an agitator of exceedingly simple form which will operate in such a way as to break up etfectually any arch'of coal that may form in the hopper and cause it to fall down at the end of the plunger at the particular time when the latter is withdrawn; to provide a construction in which the agitator cannot act at a. time when the plunger is about to make or making its charging stroke, thus providing for a maximum eiiiciency; and also to provide a construction in which the entire agitator is located within the hopper and is actuated by the charging plunger itself in the hopper so that there will be no necessity of connecting it up from the outside.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which-' Figure 1 is a central sectional view of a section of a hopper of a mechanical Stoker with a preferred embodiment of this invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is asimilar view showing the parts in the other eXtreme position, and Fig. 3 is an elevation of the same looking at the end of the plungers, the bottom of the yhopper' appearing in section.

Then coal is mbist or otherwise of a caking nature, it tends to form arches in the hopper of a mechanical Stoker, and thus prevent the uniformand continuous feed of the coal. Several devices have been designed for preventing this, but so far as I am aware they have been worked from the outside and also it has often been the case that they havebeen caused to operate independently of the position and direction of motion of the several plungers.r Consequently whenever the agitator' was working it might tend to force coal toward some plunger that was making its working stroke.

This tended to clog the device and was any- A,tioIlwShown*in Fig. 1.

thing but efiicient. By my invention these diiiiculties are avoided by the substitution of an extremely simple device which works eii'i-l ciently in practice.

Referring particularly to the drawings it will be seen that the invention is shown as applied toa well-known type of Stoker in which the coal is fed from the bottom of a hopper 10 by means of a series of reciprocating plungers 1l.

arate agitator 1 4 which Works with that plunger irrespective of the other plungers and operates at the right time with reference to its own plunger. In this case the eXtension 12 with which each plunger is provided has a notch 13 in its top to which is pivoted an agitator hook 14. This hook extends upwardly from the forward end of the plunger therefore and is provided with a nose 15 arranged almost at right angles to the body of the hook or agitator. The agitator is made with its lower edge near the pivot thin so as to cause the least possible resistance when it is forced through the coal. At its upper end are cross rods 16 made of sulicient length to reach practically between the adjacent plungers and prevent arching in the space not touched by the narrow hook.

From this it will be seen that the lower end of the agitator hook reciprocates with the plunger while the upper end is free to stand in any position depending upon the condition of the coal it encounters. It is rapable of moving clear across the hopper as the plunger operates. It will be noted that during the forward or working motion of the plungern the agitator has aI tendency to fall back to the position shown yin Fig. 2 and it is duringvthe` reverse stroke that it has a tendency to move forward toward the posi- Its operation is synchronous with that of the plunger and tends to bring the coal down to the front ofthe plunger as the plunger is being withdrawn and while there is a space Ain the front of the plunger for receiving it. Furthermore the space below the two bars 1G, when the' hook is in its highest position, holds enough coal to fill the space in front of the plunger, that is, a full charge.

The agitator also has another function in that when in the position shown in Fig. l while the plunger is about to move for According to my in-l vention each plunger 1s provided with a sepward, it prevents an excessive charge of coal packing into the space -in front of the plunger andl tends to take part of the pressure off that' which is located there. The agitator', by its up and down motion, breaks up the arch of coal formed in the hopper above the plunger at exactly the proper time so that it can not assist the natural tendency of lthe coal to pack at that point and tend to resist the action of the plunger. Furthermore, by having a separate agitator for each plunger necessarily operating synchronously therewith there is no possibility of having the agitator, vwhile efficient for one plunger, reduce theefliciency of another as has been the case with some of the devices heretofore-suggested. Furthermore, in case of the presence of a hard lump of coal in the way of the agitator it. does not bring any exceptional strain upon the .operating parts of the plunger because the agitator is capable' of swinging freely on its pivot.

It will be understood that the cylinder and throat ofthe hopperin which the plunger works should be designed to have sufficient clearance to allow the agitator to move into the two extreme positions shown.

Although I have illustrated and described only a single form of the invention and shown it as applied only to one type of Stoker hopper I am aware of the fact that modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art and that it can'be applied toA other types of hoppers without departing from the s cope of the invention, as expressed in the claims. Therefore` I- do not wish to be limited to all the detailsof construction herein shown and described, but

What I do claim isl. In a coal feeding mechanism, the combination with a hopper, of a rigid coal agitator located/'within the hopper, and means located in the hopper for operating one end of said agitator, the other end also being movable back and forth in the hopper.

2. In a coal feeding mechanism, the combination with a hopper and a plunger for feeding coal therefrom, of an agitator in the hopper connected to be operated by the plunger and having one end movable freely in the hopper.

3. In a coal feeding mechanism, the conibination with a hopper and a reciprocating plunger at the bottoni thereof. of a coal agitator pivotally connected with the end of the plunger and extending upwardly therefron'l in the hopper the upwardly extending part being free in the hopper.

l. In a coal feeding mechanism, the Colnbination with a hopper and a reciprocating plunger, of a coal agitator pivotally connected with the end of the plunger and located in the hopper, and having a nose extending at an angle therefrom forwardly.

In a coal feeding mechanism. the combination with a hopper and a reciprocating plunger at the bottom thereof, of a coal agitator pivot'rlly connected'with the end of the plunger and extending upwardly there` from in the hopper, said agitator having a nose substantially at'right angles thereto, and constructed and arranged to provide a space underneath said nose when the plunger is retracted sufficient to hold a complete l charge of fuel.

G. I n a. coal feeding mechanism, the combination with a hopper and a reciprocating plunger, of a coal agitator pivotally connected with the end of the plunger in the hopper and provided with cross rods near the free end thereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my han d.

ROBERT SANFORD RILEY. 

